FinancialBliss: My mortgage free journey…

financialbliss

Excellent post there everyone. I’ll revisit with some replies.

But…Let’s get to the point. Missing the 12/12/12 target?

I’ve three or four things that could put a real financial spanner in the works. While these wouldn’t fatally cripple us financially, these could put a real strain on the already tight schedule (thanks everyone for pointing that out ) to attain the mortgage free goal of 12/12/12.

Car. It’s an 05 plate and has it’s fourth birthday this year. Hoping it will survive with some TLC until after 2012. While I could and indeed do get to and from work by public transport, if the car was written off or became uneconomical, then a new car would be a major dent in the finances.

We could possibly manage short term without a car, but take a look at the mortgage balance summary graph on post 1. Real slow down in payments in 2007 as we repaid a car loan.

Windows. Out of all of the cheap windows I’ve seen in a property, we’ve probably got the cheapest and thinnest double glazing units I’ve ever seen. They’re softwood frames (pine), with a mere 4mm or perhaps 6mm double glazing unit. The rear of the property is south facing and some of these units have misted up.

We have an ever growing list of DIY or tradesman projects that we want to achieve. Hopefully all of these can keep until we’re mortgage free, but I have worries about the windows. I paint the frames in a good quality oil based exterior paint every other year. A few pounds to save a few thousand pounds and so far, we’re still ok.

Shower. I’ll quickly refer you back to post #206 from March 2008:

financialbliss wrote: »

Shower. Stepped out of the shower yesterday morning to the screams of Mrs bliss telling me there’s water coming through the ceiling. Never good :eek: The seal has gone around the base of the shower tray. We’ve re-sealed it before, but I’ve my doubts about the effectiveness this time around. The tile are fastened to a stud wall – however you can push these and they give a little. Basically I think the wall has seen better days.

We’ve discussed possible options, and our initial thought is to try re-sealing it. However if this doesn’t work, we may have to take the tiles off and inspect the wall. If we were to do that, we would probably want new tiles (our luck would be we'd break one) and if we’re doing that, we may as well put in a new en-suite. It’s the original from when the house was built in 1991.

This could be a major expense and while we have some rainy day savings, this could eat up a major chunk of what’s left.

While this has been a niggle at the back of the mind which we felt we would have to deal with properly at some point, the actual decision point came at Christmas Eve, and it wasn’t the shower:

Mrs Bliss flushed the en-suite toilet on the morning of Christmas Eve. Went back in a few minutes later to find a wet en-suite carpet. Toilet was leaking :eek:

So we now know the shower has leaked in the past and the wall was shot, the toilet was leaking (and it also doesn’t flush very well) and the sink occasionally drips too from underneath, but oddly after you have used the tap, not during

So we took the decision to replace the suite on Christmas Eve. Wasn’t too disheartened about this – we knew the writing was on the wall.

Over the Christmas period (which was why this diary was quiet) we got a few quotes from various sources. I don’t get too much done in the way of tradesman unless I know I won’t make a good job of it / don’t have the tools. Was totally taken aback at how much the labour costs were.

One national retailer, X&Y (you know - the one with the orange logo) was having a January sale – up to 50% off bathroom pottery and half price installation. Got a design and quote off them – came to nearly £4,000 for removal of the old suite, purchase and install of the new suite. The designer said that due to labour costs, the typical full price for our size en-suite would be nearer £5,000 or £5,500.

Highlights of the quote were £150 to remove the old suite (a handful of screws) and a further £150 to dispose of it. Oh, and £750 to make good the walls once the old tiles were removed. Not saying that they wouldn’t do a good job – I’m sure they would, and pretty stress free too, as they would do all the tradesman management, but I wasn’t prepared to pay anywhere near that price – this is MSE after all.

In the end, we settled with Wickes. Shower tray / cubicle, toilet hand basin, mixer shower, towel rail radiator, wall and floor tiles should have cost about £2,100 – via discounts we got everything for £1,150. Wickes fitting was a little more expensive that we hoped for, so I’ve been sourcing tilers, plasterers, plumbers etc myself. With a little tradesman management, we should save on fitting costs. I’m hoping to bring the whole project in under £2,250.

Ok. It’s perhaps not the £50k loft conversion that you thought I may be announcing, but hold on a mo., it’s our second smallest room in the house at 4 square meters and X&Y wanted us to spend £1k a square metre. :eek:

This does eat into our rainy day savings of about £12k and I expect to soon have less than £10k in savings. We also have an £18k overpayment reserve in the mortgage account, but that defeats the object of bringing the mortgage end date forward, so I tend to ignore that.

Sometime I plan / project a long way ahead. Currently, I’m looking forward to a new en-suite, but wary of the effects of this decision. It is the right decision – there is black mould near the outside of the shower cubicle where I’ve removed some wall tiles – and I’d make the same decision again.

Oddly the shower is still holding up. Attempted to “fix” the seal three times now in nearly five years we have been here...

Phew, and that’s me turning in for the evening!

Financial Bliss.

Lunar_Eclipse

financialbliss wrote: »

Car. It’s an 05 plate and has it’s fourth birthday this year. Hoping it will survive with some TLC until after 2012. While I could and indeed do get to and from work by public transport, if the car was written off or became uneconomical, then a new car would be a major dent in the finances.

Windows.

In the end, we settled with Wickes. I’m hoping to bring the whole project in under £2,250.

Firstly thanks for the post. And sorry to hear the decline in ensuite functionality. (I suspect we'll face a similar issue following water leakage and a damp smell coming from our utility!) But great work on hammering the project costs down and double bonus that you already have savings to cover it. Excellent work. And an attitude that makes me think 12/12/12 is not impossible btw.

Personally, from what you've said about the windows (doing their job), I'd ignore them but carry on looking after them as you are. But at least you are aware that they will need improving at some point, so could hatch a plan as to how you will finance it when the time comes.

Our only car is a 2000 plate. I have always hoped it would last until our eldest finishes primary school, which will be in 2011 (for no logical reason, it was just a milestone they understood once they starting expressing a desire to upgrade our car in line with their friends! Stuart - they are girls, currently 7 & 8!!) So like you, replacement is on the radar, but being ignored! We almost got a second car last year (an old BMW being kindly donated by my parents) but I'm pleased we didn't. It would be very useful, but a real luxury in terms of running costs. Interestingly, I only have one friend who is also a one car family. But as I always tell people, particularly my children, unless you are uber rich, it's all about choices! We would rather have one car and overseas holidays than two cars. It really is as simple as that.

On a completely unrelated topic, I am a bit gutted that we didn't wake up to the huge snowfall that we were expecting. The sun is shining and melting it all. Youngest will be delighted as she has two birthday parties that we should now be able to get her to, but I had envisaged sledging, fires and homemade soup & bread. Oops, just realised I didn't put the bread on for lunch. Must go do that ...... bye for now!

gallygirl

A new ensuite for £2250 is very impressive and if needed there's no point worrying about it. Hope you enjoy it!

PS what colour tiles have you picked

earthgirl

We had a new bathroom after a leak from the tank in the attic. With the money the insurance paid (for a newfloor and ceiling only) we managed to get it for £3000, so I am very impressed with your prices!

StuartGMC

financialbliss wrote: »

Car. It’s an 05 plate and has it’s fourth birthday this year. Hoping it will survive with some TLC until after 2012. While I could and indeed do get to and from work by public transport, if the car was written off or became uneconomical, then a new car would be a major dent in the finances.

These days it should be the mileage that governs the reliability of the car provided it does some distance regularly (they don't like to be stood for long periods and driven short runs only). I doubt you have high annual mileage so look perhaps to the fact that she should run well to 80-100,000 miles with regular maintenance? My 03 plate S-type does 54 miles round trip a day to work, and I still expect her to see me through to 2011 (hopes )

Windows. Out of all of the cheap windows I’ve seen in a property, we’ve probably got the cheapest and thinnest double glazing units I’ve ever seen. They’re softwood frames (pine), with a mere 4mm or perhaps 6mm double glazing unit. The rear of the property is south facing and some of these units have misted up.

Do remember, 75mm units will very much reduce heating costs and improve security on the property (burglary upset our DD a lot when she was 4). Also, even with very good fitters you'll need to do some redecoration around the windows. If rooms will need decorating in the near term get the windows done first - especially bathroom etc if tiling is affected. We bought our windows in 2000, and got very competitive rates as few people were buying, this year could be a great one to get improved quotes, then just watch carefully through Spring to gauge it?

fiddling_flower_petals

Well done FB, for project managing the ensuite installation.
I used to work for the installation dept for a well known high street supplier and installer of kitchens, bedrooms and bathroom which went under last year, and the installation prices included approx £500 for the administration of the project before any units were removed/ installed. An average bathroom installation cost £4000- 5000 and wasn't a guarantee the installation would go smoothly either. :eek: Most of our installers also installed for other well known retailers including the two you mention in your post and believe their pricing structure was very similar.

Managing your own installation will give you much more control and if the work isn't completed to the standard you expect, you can withhold payment until the matter is resolved.

Sorry don't mean to scare you, many, many installation are straight forward, but having dealt with some of the issues gives me a slightly different perspective than most.

Good luck with the ensuite and your MFW quest.

financialbliss

fiddling_flower_petals wrote: »

Good luck with the ensuite and your MFW quest.

THanks for that insight ffp. What I forgot to mention in that earlier ensuite mammoth post was I purchased the suite on my birthday

Living it up eh? :rotfl:
FB.

fiddling_flower_petals

financialbliss wrote: »

THanks for that insight ffp. What I forgot to mention in that earlier ensuite mammoth post was I purchased the suite on my birthday

Living it up eh? :rotfl:
FB.

As long as you didn't purchase in your birthday suit!!:D

Mumto5

Do our bathrooms know something about us wanting to be MFW's? An earlier insurance bodge had to be sorted out in November and we negotiated with a local chap to do the en-suite and main bathroom. Final cost was £5100. They both look lovely now:D .

Only spanner in the works is that the heated towel rail in the main bathroom fell off the wall when a bedroom door slammed. Water is dripping from the inlet pipes and my lasagne dish is on duty as a drip bucket. Despite 3 weeks of daily phone calls we cannot get the local chap to come and sort it out.:mad:

House insurance is due on Valentines day. I'm going to find someone else as Barclays Insurance were the original cowboys.

Very impressed with your price FB. Well done excellent MSE skills:T

StuartGMC

Do see my thread and some "interesting" things I found when reviewing building and contents insurance around September last year. We're now with DirectLine who don't appear on any of the comparison sites of course.

Good luck